Flourless Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookies

28th June 2017

Whenever I bake, I look for simple recipes, unless it’s a special occasion like a birthday when I take the time to make something more elaborate. In my hectic, everyday life though I go for quick and easy-to-make treats. These Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookies are exactly that: quick and simple, made with just 6 ingredients!

Two weeks ago I met a friend for coffee and I promised her I would bring something I baked, but I came back from a trip abroad the night before so I only had an hour in the morning to put something together. Thankfully I had this recipe for Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookies (from Gluten Free on a Shoestring blog) pinned on my Pinterest board. Finally I had an excuse to try it!

I love baking with peanut butter (you must try my chocolate peanut butter banana bread!) and I always use good quality one, made exclusively with peanuts and no other additive. No palm oil, no sugar, no salt.

For these Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookies I would recommend using smooth peanut butter, for a softer and smoother cookie. However we never have smooth peanut butter at home, because we LOVE crunchy so that’s what I used here. You can see the cookies were dotted with crunchy bits of peanuts.

I increased the amount of cocoa powder from the original recipe to give it a more intense flavour and I was very pleased with the result. Don’t expect traditional sweet, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips cookies. These Cocoa Peanut Butter Cookies are crunchy, intense, rich.

They are great for a mid-morning snack that gives you a burst of energy, without a high sugar content. Because I always need a sweet treat with my coffee ;)

Preheat your oven to 170°C. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set it aside.

In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter with sugar, egg, bicarbonate of soda, and salt, mixing to combine after each addition. Add the cocoa powder, mix to combine and, with clean hands, knead the cookie mixture until you have a uniform, brown color dough.

Divide the dough into equal portions of 1 tablespoons each. Roll each piece of dough tightly into a ball between your palms, and press into a disk about 20mm thick. Place about 2cm apart from one another on the prepared baking tray. Place 2 to 3 chocolate chips on top of each cookie, pressing gently to help the chips adhere.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until the cookies are puffed and set toward the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. Store them in an airtight container for up to a week.